Catherine Baudains

Residential gardens can provide essential opportunities for native wildlife and represent a valuable way of creating new habitats. Bandicoots (marsupial family Peramelidae) are medium-sized digging mammals that play a valuable role in maintaining ecosystem health; retaining these important ecosystem engineers across urban landscapes, including in private gardens, can have enormous conservation benefits. Urbanisation is a significant threat for some bandicoot species, and therefore understanding the factors associated with their activity can help guide urban landscape and garden design. To identify key features associated with the activity of a local endemic bandicoot species, the quenda (Isoodon fusciventer), we carried out a camera trap survey of front and back yards for 65 residential properties in the City of Mandurah, Western Australia. We compared quenda activity with biotic and abiotic factors that could indicate potential predation risk (activity of domestic dogs Canis familiaris and cats Felis catus, and the presence of artificial or natural protective cover), food availability (including deliberate or inadvertent supplementary feeding, provision of water, and diggable surfaces) and garden accessibility (distance to bushland, permeability of boundary fencing, and garden position). Supplementary feeding was strongly associated with quenda activity. Quenda were also more active in back yards, and in gardens where there was greater vegetation cover. Of concern, quenda activity was positively associated with cat activity, which could reflect that straying pet cats are attracted to gardens that harbour wildlife populations, including quenda. Furthermore, almost half of the gardens showed cat activity despite only a small sample of the surveyed residents owning a pet cat. Results of this study can help guide the design of residential gardens to increase useful habitat for these important digging mammals. Vegetation, wood mulch and semi-permeable fencing can provide valuable resources needed to support the persistence of quendas across the rapidly changing urban landscape mosaic, where natural and managed (e.g., gardens and parks) green spaces are becoming less common and more isolated.

While there has recently been clear acknowledgement in the public sphere that the way society deals with waste must change, there has not been a great deal of change in the way information or education about how to separate household waste is delivered. Current practice remains primarily entrenched in one-way communication strategies. This practice is driven by assumptions made by waste managers that if "the information is available" people will correctly separate waste unless they do not care. This research explored the accuracy of this assumption by examining how participants separate 19 common household waste items, why they make their choices, and what barriers and motivators they believe influence their decisions. Survey data was collected from 299 residents of the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council in Perth. Results showed that despite positive attitudes (x? 4/5) there was low level knowledge (x? 3.3/7) and a range of accuracy in separation of household waste items, with 6 items being separated correctly by more than 95% of residents, 8 items correctly separated by less than 53% of residents. The most consistently used information source was the Council Recycling calendar, while uptake of online information sources was poor. The most significant barriers identified by participants were limited knowledge and bin size/collection rates. Main motivators desired by participants were consistent with the barriers identified. Residents indicated a desire to correctly separate their waste and a need for change in the way information is provided. This has important implications for future education and engagement strategies, including the need for residents to more deeply understand waste management processes beyond a static list of "recycling rules", requiring educators to engage in ongoing dialogue about the constantly evolving state of waste management.

Wildlife research is informed by human values and interests, and these are reflected in, and reinforced by, the language used to describe particular species and animals. Examining factors that influence the use of common names of contentious taxa such free-ranging dogs is important, as naming can influence the design and reception of scientific studies. There are a range of common names for free-ranging dogs in Australian scientific literature but the most common names are 'dingoes' and 'wild dogs'. This review investigated influences on the terminology used to describe Australian free-ranging dogs in scientific studies from October 1952 to January 2018. Using a multidimensional scaling analysis, we tested the effects of several potential factors on terminology around Australian free-ranging dogs. We found a significant correlation between studies that reported on 'wild dog' control within livestock production-focussed papers and the use of the term 'dingo' and discussion of mesopredator release in conservation-related papers. There was a bias associated with author employment, with studies funded by a livestock production organisation more likely to employ 'wild dog' terminology. Year of publication and dingo purity within the locale of the study made a lesser contribution to differences in terminology. Our study explores the contextual factors that influence the choice of common names in scientific papers. Although referring to the same species, this review highlights that common terminology within scientific papers is reliant on the discussion of mesopredators release, control programs and the paper's context.

A greenhouse gas emissions reduction initiative, involving a progressive series of plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been successfully implemented for over five years at a primary school in Western Australia. A ten tonne greenhouse gas emissions reduction target was achieved in 2011, a fifty tonne plan implemented in 2012, and a one hundred tonne plan in 2013-2014. A two hundred tonne target was reached in 2016. To achieve these targets the emissions reduction plans involved undertaking a variety of biodiversity, waste, water, energy, air quality and social actions, within a whole school, whole systems thinking perspective. The effectiveness of this initiative is illustrated by three whole systems thinking sustainability projects conducted at the school. These projects involve local bushland, wetland and international settings and actions. Evidence relating to the depth of participant involvement, together with commitment to whole systems thinking and the overarching emissions reduction initiative is highlighted. Links to biodiversity, waste, water, air quality and social interconnections were documented in relation to emissions reductions, which were achieved through actions such as tree planting, litter collection and the purchase of solar lanterns. Overall, the initiative provided a successful example of systems thinking in action and demonstrated deep interconnections between different aspects of sustainability, both within the local setting and global sustainability contexts.

Transdisciplinary research is widely being promoted for its potential to effectively address complex issues, such as ecosystem management in a changing climate. Working across disciplines and with broader society can benefit greatly from continuous evaluation to improve transdisciplinary practices. However, methods for such continuous self-reflection are scarce, with little evidence of the application of social science concepts, theory, or methods. This article presents a case study of how researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds have familiarized themselves with the key social science concepts of “structure” and “agency” to reflect on the integrative research efforts of a research center in southwestern Australia. They identified influential “structures” as the geographical separation of the center's research groups, contrasting research cultures, and little previous engagement with the social sciences. Evidence of “agency” comprised various interventions to promote collaboration. Intriguingly, these interventions rendered some challenging paradoxes.

Transdisciplinary research is increasingly recognised as important for investigating and addressing 'wicked' problems such as climate change, food insecurity and poverty, but is far from commonplace. There are structural impediments to transdisciplinarity such as university structures, publication requirements and funding preferences that perpetuate disciplinary differences and researchers often lack transdisciplinary experience and expertise. In this paper we present a heuristic that aims to encourage researchers to think about their current research as performance and then imagine different performances, with the view to encouraging reflection and creativity about the transdisciplinary potential and dilemmas. The heuristic is inspired by the metaphor of performance that Erving Goffman uses to understand everyday, face-to-face interactions. The heuristic includes scaffolding for imagining research as performance through a transdisciplinary lens, a suggested process for using the tool, and examples based on the every day research projects. The paper describes the application of the heuristic in a graduate masterclass, reflecting on whether it does indeed 'prompt' transdisciplinary research. Limitations and lessons learned for further refinement of the heuristic are also included. The authors conclude that the heuristic has a range of uses including for self-reflection, and as a practical learning tool that can also be used at the start of integrative research projects.